Wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, Mr Aziz stubs out a grubby cheroot on his counter and unwraps a glossy paan leaf the size of his palm. Holding it to his pockmarked face he inhales the aromatic betel nut paste inside. 'I sell these as a stimulant to the local nightshift workers,' he says. 'I use them to escape the smell of this place.' Around his tiny stall the unmistakable stench of ammonia and sewage hangs heavy over Apna Street, a packed industrial lane that dissects Mumbai's labyrinthine Dharavi slum. The paan vendor looks out towards the Arabian Sea, as if wishing an ocean breeze would somehow blow the foul air west, out over Asia's largest shantytown towards the desolate salt-pans and low-lying marshes encircling India's most chaotic city. A 175-hectare maze of impenetrable dark alleys and corrugated shacks, Dharavi swarms with more than a million residents. There is only one easy way into its true heart, according to local folklore - you ... http://observer.guardian.co.uk

Ahmad Hamad al-Tammimi used to live in the village of Quba. Before Iraq descended into sectarian war it was home to around 700 families. The vast majority were Sunnis. Tammimi, spiritual head of Diyala province's Shias and a follower of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most important religious leader, was the imam at the local mosque. He farmed groves of date palms and oranges close to the Diyala river. That was then. He has not seen his house, his farm or old mosque for close to two years. 'I get my information from a moderate Sunni family that lives in Quba,' he said. 'There is another family in my house. A Sunni family. Other people have taken over my groves. People from outside the village. Now I hear they have allowed my plants to dry up and wither.' The Shias have left Quba, pushed out of their homes over two years of gradual, deadly ethnic cleansing that is now almost complete. Sectarian deaths are decreasing because there are few people left available to kill. ...http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2026079,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

In a political landscape populated by Bushes, Kennedys and Clintons, the children and kinfolk of longtime U.S. politicians do indeed have a better shot at winning elective office, but not necessarily at holding on or moving up, experts say. A study last year on political dynasties in the U.S. Congress found that politicians who held office for more than one term were 40 percent more likely to have a relative in Congress in the future than other members. "Being in power for longer has a causal impact on the chances that someone from the family would access a position of political authority," said Ernesto Dal Bo, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and one of the authors of the study. The reason were not determined. It could be that children of political parents gained name recognition, learned valuable skills or got access to political machinery, Dal Bo said. Stephen Hess, a George Washington University professor who wrote a book on U.S. political dynasties, said ...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070304/ts_nm/usa_politics_dynasties_dc

Homeland Gestapo officials released long-delayed guidelines that turn state-issued identification cards into de facto internal passports Thursday, estimating the changes will cost states and individuals $23 billion over 10 years. The move prompted a new round of protest from civil libertarians and security experts, who called on Congress to repeal the 2005 law known as the Real ID Act that mandates the changes. Critics, such as American Civil Liberties Union attorney Tim Sparapani, charge that the bill increases government access to data on Americans and amplifies the risk of identity theft, without providing significant security benefits. "Real ID creates the largest single database about U.S. people that has ever been created," Sparapani said. "This is the people who brought you long lines at the DMV marrying the people at DHS who brought us Katrina. It's a marriage we need to break up."...http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72843-0.html?tw=wn_index_9

The Pope has named a new archbishop of Warsaw after Stanislaw Wielgus quit admitting he had collaborated with Poland's communist-era secret police. Pope Benedict XVI named Kazimierz Nycz, 57, who has been bishop of the Baltic city of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg since 2004. Bishop Wielgus resigned on 7 January at the service intended to install him as the city's new archbishop. He admitted spying on fellow clerics, many of whom had opposed the Soviet-backed government in Poland. Bishop Nycz is thought to have an unblemished record under communist rule. Bishop Wielgus has apologised for his actions but said he was blackmailed and harassed into co-operating with the secret police. He has been granted a hearing at a special vetting court to try to clear his name...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6415021.stm

Russian riot police have broken up a rare opposition march in St Petersburg. Several thousand opposition supporters gathered to protest against what they see as attempts by President Vladimir Putin to stifle democracy. They broke through a police cordon and marched down Nevsky Prospekt, the city's main street, shouting "freedom!" and slogans hostile to Mr Putin. The organisers say police beat demonstrators with batons and made a number of arrests. The event - entitled "the march of the dissenters" - was organised by opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and chess champion Gary Kasparov. They accuse the Kremlin of using its power to silence the opposition in advance of local and parliamentary elections. Mr Kasparov said about 5,000 people took part in the march and called it a "major success". ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6415699.stm